Don't blame worker pensions on government financial failures: Opinion

Perhaps the most telling number in a recently released national survey about retirement is the one that describes how many Americans believe their elected officials in Washington, D.C., simply don't understand how difficult it is to save for the golden years. Eighty-seven percent.

So it's no wonder Californians don't believe politicians in this state who continue to use the public employee pension system as a scapegoat for governments' financial woes.

First, they tried it in Stockton. But the bankruptcy there wasn't caused by the city's police officers and garbage truck drivers. It had more to do with lavish borrowing to construct a waterfront ballpark and entertainment center. Then, they tried to blame public employees for San Bernardino's fiscal problems, but that city's pension costs last fiscal year totaled just 4 percent of its budget shortfall. That means even if pensions were eliminated entirely, San Bernardino would still have had a $43 billion budget hole.Some have even tried to blame the California Public Employees Retirement System for the state's budget problems. They do so by taking a snapshot of the system's performance during the nadir of California's economic slump. That's narrow and unfair.

Evaluating an investment system over just six months or one year skews its true health. Instead, consider CalPERS' long-term performance. Over the past two decades it has averaged 8 percent return on its investments - and that includes the recent down years. Imagine an 8 percent return on any other long-term investment. Your home value. Your bank savings account. Your own 401(k) or IRA. Politicians shouldn't be scapegoating a retirement system that realizes those kinds of returns despite difficult economic times; they should be studying the system and asking how it can be emulated. If that's not enough motivation, politicians in our state should realize that their constituents have had enough of politicians and billionaires blaming working-class public employees for government's problems.

Statewide opinion polls show overwhelmingly that voters are satisfied with the massive changes in pension law signed by the governor last year. Nationally, only 9 percent of Americans believe that government employees' pensions are too high, according to the survey by the National Institute on Retirement Security. Eighty-six percent of Americans say police officers and firefighters deserve pensions because of the danger inherent in their jobs, and 72 percent say teachers deserve pensions because of how little they earn. Yes, it's true that a small number of public employees have gamed the system. Those loopholes need closing. It's also true that, facing difficult budget situations, everyone needs to do their part to cut back. That's why public employees in hundreds of cities throughout California have already agreed to concessions. On top of that, Brown's reforms kicked in last month, representing a $100 billion reduction in benefits to the state's teachers, public safety employees and others. Should our state have a broader policy conversation about whether public servants deserve defined benefit retirements? California elected officials ought to know that voters don't think so. They're tired of politicians using teachers, firefighters and other public employees as scapegoats. Not only do voters support public employees' pensions, they believe all Americans deserve access to a defined benefit pension.

Cathy Jeppson is a professor in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at California State University, Northridge.